Davis looks ahead after tough December

Steven Davis is adamant that the style of play Saints employ will garner plenty of positive results in 2014.

Such impressive attacking play has brought Southampton an admirable seven Barclays Premier League victories so far in the 2013/14 campaign. Despite Saints having suffered four losses in December, Davis maintains the performances were still of the high standard required and vowed that similar displays will bring wins next year.

The Northern Irishman believes the recent loss to Everton in which Saints were arguably deserving of a point epitomised how unfortunate the side have been of late when putting on adequate showings.

“It seems to be the story of the month so far,” Davis assessed when speaking to Saints Player. “The performances have been quite good but we haven’t really got the results to go along with them. [The Everton game] was another frustrating one for us we came away disappointed.

“We need to learn from it as quick as possible and the errors that we’re making. The biggest disappointment was that we got ourselves back in the game and then conceded so quickly again afterwards, then it’s always harder – it knocks your confidence a little bit.

“We kept plugging away and tried to get back in the game but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully our performances will determine the results.

“It’s been a difficult fixture list for us this month. We’ve played a lot of the top half of the teams in the table and we just haven’t seemed to get things to go for us in terms of results. The belief is still there in terms of how we want to play and everyone’s buying into it. We’re just going to keep going the way we are and it’ll turn.

“Personally, I don’t look at the table too much. I think we just have to keep trying to get consistency in the game and get results and then the table will take care of itself. The performances this month, we’ve played good but the results haven’t gone our way. The New Year is about trying to turn that round into positive results.

“There is a lot of quality here and there are young players that have come in and all done exceptionally well. Maybe results haven’t gone our way while we’ve had a couple of players missing but at the same time, throughout the course of the season, it’s a squad game and everyone’s going to have to play their part. Hopefully we can turn the results round into more positive ones.”

Davis admits that Saints’ attempts to get back to winning ways will be tested intensely when they welcome third-placed Chelsea on New Year, but the midfielder is desperate to get one up against a team he feels haven’t found their finest vein of form so far this campaign – especially with an early goal reminiscent of Jay Rodriguez’s 13-second opener against the Blues earlier this month.

The 28-year-old continued: “We know Chelsea are a top side. They’ve obviously got a big squad with players that they can rotate over the Christmas period. They seem like a very efficient team and under [José] Mourinho it seems that even if they’re not playing well, they get results. It’s a game we look forward to.

“I don’t think they’ve found their proper rhythm yet. They’ve not hit top form yet they’re still up there competing – that’s down to the quality they’ve got and the mentality they’ve got. That’s something we’re trying to get here as well.

“They’ve got a lot of top players that are going to cause you problems throughout the game. Sometimes you don’t know whether an early goal goes for you or against you. We’d take that (early goal) again come Wednesday!”

Davis recalled the calendar year with fondness as he declared his desire for more encouraging strides to a better future for Saints.

After initially being hampered by injury when joining, the midfielder is also pleased on a personal level as he continues to put in strings of solid displays.

“I think it’s gone relatively well,” he analysed. “When I first joined the club there was a little bit of frustration, coming in injured last year. Then this year, I felt I’ve got back to the levels that I’m more capable of. I’m just trying to stay in the team.

“I think we’ve seen a good progression since we got back into the Premier League and we’ll try and continue that – testing ourselves and pushing ourselves to go onto the next level. We’ve got another six months to do that this season and hopefully we’ll finish the season well.”